A Lark Ascending

Very Prog ! 'Worship, cried the clown, I am a TV, making bandsmen go clockwork.' No wonder the world's going to the dogs. Previous generations could quote Shakespeare and Tennyson. All I can manage is snippets of Pete Sinfield (and Dylan [bob, not Thomas]).

I remember those too - though I only saw the earlier Island samplers on a rather nice promo brochure Island put out with nice colour reproductions of all its releases. I think they had vanished by the time I was buying records from mid-1970 onwards.

I've seen a copy of 'The New Age of Atlantic' with a 99p sticker on. Which, thinking about it, wasn't that cheap. A full LP cost £1.99 in those days.

He did indeed. I recall him as the vocalist (and, I think bass player) on King Crimson's 'Lizard'. Don't think he liked the experience much...I get the impression he was more of a balladeer. The music he had to sing on 'Lizard' was verging on free jazz (well, polytonal jazz!) and the lyrics were bonkers....'See the slinky-sealed circus policeman, bareback ladies have fish.'

Led, perhaps, by the Big Bands as they march back into towns?

I remember this one...bought it in WH Smiths in St. Austell of all places: Side One 1.Led Zeppelin: "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham) - 3:53 (from "Immigrant Song" US single b-side, cat. no. 2777, 1970) 2.Loudon Wainwright III: "Motel Blues" (L. Wainwright) - 2:43 (from Album II, cat. no. K40272, 1971) 3.Gordon Haskell: "Sitting by the Fire" (Haskell) - 3:41 (from It Is and It Isn't, cat. no. K40311, 1972) 4.Dr. John: "Where Ya at Mule" (Mac Rebennack) - 4:55 (from The Sun, Moon & Herbs, cat. no. K40250, 1971) 5.Buffalo Springfield: "Bluebird" (Stephen Stills) - 4:28 (from Buffalo Springfield Again, cat. no. K40014, 1967) 6.Delaney, Bonnie & Friends: "Only You Know And I Know" (Dave Mason) - 3:24 (from D&B Together, cat. no. CBS KC 31377, 1972) [edit] Side Two 1.Cactus: "Long Tall Sally" (Richard Penniman) - 3:03 (from One Way...Or Another, cat. no. K12345, 1971) 2.Jonathan Edwards: "Everybody Knows Her" (Edwards) - 1:53 (from Jonathan Edwards, cat. no. K40282, 1971) 3.The J. Geils Band: "I Don't Need You No More" (Peter Wolf, Seth Justman) – 2:35 (from The Morning After, cat. no. K40293, 1971) 4.John Prine: "Sam Stone" (Prine) – 4:14 (from John Prine cat. no. K40357, 1971) 5.Yes: "America" (Paul Simon) – 10:30 (previously unreleased) The Led Zepp and Yes tracks were unavailable elsewhere at the time - and I took a real liking to Loudon, Buffalo Springfield, the elaney and Bonnie track and John Prine as a result. Though this was the most influential cheapo sampler for me: A 2LP Island records treasure trove - I ended up following most of the artists on it - Fairport, Fotheringay, John Martyn, Traffic etc. I also recall hearing this one though I never owned it:

Fabulous record - Seeline recommended it to me a couple of years back over on the AAJ Brazil thread. I also like this one: The one I'd like to find, but appears to be missing in action, is this: Edit: (Sorry, Seeline! Crossed post!)

I'll be on to it, Jim. It's up there on Amazon.co.uk mp3...whereas the Tokyo one is prohibitively expensive. I haven't a clue why, but the bossa/acoustic side of Brazilian music really connects with me - where I listen to other 'world' musics with interest and often enthusiasm this strain just hits me in the gut.

Thanks, Seeline. I'll give both ago. I've jumped up and down about this record several times but it really is THAT good - not just well performed but some seriously good songs. Several have Robert Wyatt involved in singing/writing: The idea of a Brazilian disc from cold, rainy Britain might seem preposterous but this really is wonderful! Bev, have you got these? If not, do not delay nor hesitate! The "Live In Tokyo" disc may be a bit more difficult to get at a reasonable price, I suspect. Thanks, Jim. I have the first two (and the first of Paula's more electro-modern discs, with the other on the way from Australia); did not know about the third. Something else to track down.

Following up Harold and Seeline's posts, any thoughts on these?: I know nothing about either - but these are available on e-music. Biscoito seem a bit hit and miss about getting things up on e-music and iTunes. A pity. This has to be the way for labels from outside the traditional hubs of the entertainment world to get themselves noticed.

In the process of purging my loft I found the 1972 Soft Machine double LP. So here are a few scans (apologies for rudimentary Photoshop skills): Inner Sleeve containing Disc 1 (Soft Machine fans were well known for also loving Andy Williams): How many Andy Williams albums did anyone need? I have a nice 1 CD compilation but.... Inner Sleeve containing disc 2: And there's the Live Evil report that entranced my fevered, newly Mahavishnu-ed, 17 year old brain. I'd love to track down a copy of that Lesley Duncan album - there's a beautiful song on there called 'Love Song' that Elton John had some success with. I recall the original from late night 'progressive' radio, where singer-songwriters would sit cheek-by-jowel with Yes, English country rock bands, Elton Dean's Just Us and Martin Carthy!!!!! Those were the days! Here's a close up of the 'Live Evil' talk-up: "He's something else." Priceless! And what is all that 'Mother Figure' stuff?

Quite - I've never found it easier to get hold of the old stuff; and there's a never ending stream of interesting music coming from jazz musicians worldwide. I think the perception that there is 'nothing to buy' comes from those with already large collections and widespread experience of listening who have settled into what they like...and that's not a criticism. I'm like that in lots of ways, especially rock music (where I have essentially had 'nothing to buy' since 1976). There's lots of fresh, individual, engaging music coming out on just the little island I live on, let alone across the rest of the world...and plenty of things I never feel the need to hear again! The problem it has is competing with the enormous range of alternatives people now have to fill their leisure time.

An old one available on e-music that is a joy. All the usual suspects, songwise, but beautifully done - some marvellous cello:

Furst's eighth novel, I think, of a series set in the period leading up to and during WWII. This one starts in the Mediterranean around the time of the fall of Crete in 1941; a marvellous evocation of the precarious life of a small merchant ship. It's about to shift to the Baltic, just in time, I'm assuming, for Operation Barbarossa. I've fallen behind with these novels - there have been two more since this came out in 2004. Fully intend to catch up in the next couple of weeks.

Now weren't we always knowing that, tuh be sure.

I'd forgotten that...they used to sell them in petrol garages (gas stations to you colonials). I recall there being a lot around in Germany in the early 70s when I used to visit my parents there. That's the name! Never heard one but I do recall them being mentioned, I think, on Peter Clayton's late Sunday night Jazz on 2 programme.

Can I suggest you don't experiment in Redruth!

The only person I ever knew with an 8 track was a wealthy uncle c.1972-3 - his son made him buy one for the car and one for the house. I don't think they caught on here. Never saw a pre-recorded reel-to-reel, though Revox machines were all the range when I was at university in the early 70s for those who could afford them. I had friends who built up nice collections of other peoples' record collections on those tapes (an earlier version of illegal file sharing!). SACD certainly never made a big impression in the UK shops. There was never more than a small area of shelf space for SACD - I think they sold more directly out of Hi-Fi shops.

Given the speed of change in music formatting at present I was musing on a boring car drive today over some of the things that never really took off...not always because they were a bad idea, just not what the wider public wanted. In my listening lifetime I recall: a) The 8 Track cartridge - surely the ugliest innovation of all time! b) Direct to disc records - I recall these from the late 70s/early 80s - never completely understood them but it had something to do with the disc being cut as recording took place. I might have the name wrong. There were some jazz titles but limited numbers prevented this from ever being more than a minority interest. c) Releases on reel to reel tapes - I might be imagining them but I seem to recall they existed. d) The multi-CD autochanger in the boot of the car!!!!! e) SACD - I've no reason to doubt the superior sound of these (I've never heard one) but this one clearly took music reproducing technology to a level where most listeners had no need to follow. I believe they are still being made. f) Another one I might have imagined - booths in music stores where you can download tracks. Rapidly made redundant by online downloading...and, it has to be said, the imminent extinction of music stores. As it happens I was listening to my iPod via one of those gadgets that are powered by the cigarette lighter and send a radio signal or some other voodoo to the car radio - I suspect we will be laughing our socks off about this little gadget very soon. What other bizarre delights have we had?

The Bruce Lindvall interview in the current Jazzwise is interesting - it seems as if Blue Note are finally waking up to the fact that digital distribution will become the front line. He talks about digital distribution and predicts digital sales will move from a current 11% to 40% in the next 5 years (I think that's a conservative estimate!). He also refers to the recent 100 CD deletions saying they will be available digitally. Eli Wolf talks of plans to redesign the Blue Note website - amusingly enough, to make it a social network as well as a store (now didn't Blue Note have one of those once before?!!!!). *************** One of the great possibilities of digital distribution is to open up jazz from across the world. I can now obtain the Jazzhead catalogue from Australia via iTunes, for example. One of the challenges the jazz world has is making people know it's there - when you go onto the iTunes or Amazon.mp3 home pages the range of browsing options is very limited. If you know what you want, then the search facility does what you need. But looking in the new releases is generally random or major label dominated. It almost needs a separate site like the old Jazzmatazz than can make the necessary links....and one with an international awareness.

I think there might be a big difference in the jazz CD shopping experience between the US and UK (I'd be interested to know what has happened in mainland Europe). I get the impression there are still CD stores worth visiting from comments here. In the UK the dedicated CD store is all but gone - and jazz is very poorly represented. I was reading over at AAJ some cooments about the Rays franchise in Foyles in London - it seemed to suggest the experienced staff had been let go. Don't know how true that is. But it would fit with the general pattern. The fact over here is that browsing like in the old days is ceasing to be an option. We're forced onto the internet whether we like it or not if we want to continue exploring recordings.

Yes, which completely explodes my initial grumble. I wouldn't be without that one!

Spelling mistake corrected...though I was tempted to retitle 'Let's Hear It For The Birds'.

One trick all these download sites are missing is release date. I imagine it's tied up with having the time, wanting to give the physical release a chance first etc. But one of the ways you build interest in a release is having a release date and promoting it before. You only have to think of the number of threads here detailing release dates. Download albums often just seem to appear with no fuss or flury. E-music is especially random (I noticed the Mark Turner 'Fly' ECM just appear yesterday...the only way you'd know is by sifting through the new releases or looking for it specifically). I suppose up to now the've had their work cut out getting back catalogue out (though they've made the job so hard for themselves by taking on endless cheapo labels repeating the same music). Now that CD sales are receeding the aim to give the CD a chance first should no longer be a factor. And getting a release up for download on a specific date should be much easier than having to physically truck them all round the country. Except, of course, for Neil Young! As for packaging...I have a feeling people won't actually want very much, once they are weened off the traditional approach. A cover, songs, timings, personnel will do for me. I think I'd leave any liner notes unprinted as I rarely read them more than once. The only ones I print are classical ones where they can be detailed enough to guide you through the music.